29-year old righty reliever Tanner Scheppers of the Texas Rangers will be out until late July due to left knee surgery. Scheppers pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Rangers last year and he was 4-1 with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has now pitched in 165 games (4 starts) in his first four years in the show and he is 11-5 with 2 saves, a 4.17 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. This is a bad break for Scheppers. The Rangers should be OK while Scheppers is out of action, as they have a pretty deep bullpen.

25-year old righty reliever Neftali Feliz tore his elbow up as a starting pitcher last year, but he’s back in the saddle for the Rangers now. He pitched in 8 games (1 start) on a rehab assignment in Rookie+AAA-ball this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. Feliz has also pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Feliz has given up 5 hits and 2 walks while whiffing 4 batters in his first 5 2/3 innings for the Rangers in 2013. Feliz has now pitched in 168 games (7 starts) in his first five years with the Rangers and he is 10-7 with 74 saves, a 2.61 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. I was screaming on this site about how stupid the Rangers were in moving Feliz into the rotation and I was right about it. Hindsight is always 20/20, but the Rangers should abandon all thoughts of making Feliz a starting pitcher.

The Rangers have signed 35-year old lefty Nate Robertson, with the idea of using him in the bullpen as a lefty specialist. Robertson pitched in 26 games (5 starts) in Independent and AAA-ball last year in which he was 0-3 with a 6.32 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2010 with the Marlins and Phillies. Robertson has now pitched in 223 games (187 starts) in his first nine years in the majors and he is 57-77 with 1 save, a 5.01 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Robertson will get his shot to win a bullpen job for the Rangers this spring.

The Rangers have signed 27-year old lefty starter/reliever Ryan Feierabend to a minor league deal. He pitched in 25 games (all starts) in Independent and AAA-ball last year and he was 10-9 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2008 with the Seattle Mariners. He has pitched in 25 games (19 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 2-11 with a 7.22 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. Feierabend will be a longshot to win a job in the Rangers’ bullpen next spring.

The Rangers have signed 28-year old righty starter/reliever Kevin Pucetas to a minor league deal. He pitched in 29 games (13 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Nationals last year and he was 8-6 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Pucetas has now pitched in 182 games (141 starts) in his first seven years in the minors and he is 61-32 with 2 saves, a 3.89 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Pucetas will get a shot to win a job in the Rangers’ pen this spring, but he will be a longshot.

The Rangers hope that 35-year old lefty swinging A.J. Pierzynski can come close to duplicating his 2012 offensive production in 2013. He played in 135 games for the White Sox last year and he was 133 of 479 (.278 avg, .827 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 27 homers and 77 RBIs. He has now played in 1,629 games in his first 15 years in the majors and he is 1,645 of 5,795 (.284 avg, .753 OPS) with 681 runs scored, 155 homers, 730 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Pierzynski played in 126 games (121 starts) for the White Sox last year and he had 6 errors and 8 passed balls. He threw out 19 of 95 (20%) runners trying to steal against him last year and White Sox pitchers had a 4.06 ERA with him behind the dish. 29-year old righty swinging Geovany Soto will be strictly a backup catcher in 2013 for the Rangers. He played in 47 games for the Rangers last year and he was 29 of 148 (.196 avg, .591 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 5 homers, 25 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Soto played in 99 games overall last year for the Cubs and Rangers in which he was 64 of 324 (.198 avg, .613 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 11 homers, 39 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Soto has now played in 602 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 489 of 1,972 (.248 avg, .772 OPS) with 244 runs scored, 82 homers, 289 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Soto played in 96 games (92 starts) behind the plate last year and he had 8 errors and 2 passed balls. Soto threw out 13 of 78 (16.7%) base stealers last year and pitchers had a 4.17 ERA with him behind the dish. 33-year old righty swinging Eli Whiteside and 28-year old righty swinging Konrad Schmidt will likely start the 2013 season in AAA-ball and provide depth at catcher for the Rangers in 2013. Whiteside played in 12 games for the Giants last year and he was 1 for 11 (.091 avg, .396 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 208 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 105 of 489 (.215 avg, .608 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 10 homers, 43 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Whiteside played in 11 games (3 starts) behind the plate for the Giants last year but he didn’t make any errors or have any passed balls. He threw out 2 of 4 (50%) base stealers last year and Giants’ pitchers had a 4.62 ERA with him behind the dish. Schmidt played in 4 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 0 for 7 (.000 avg, .125 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. He also played in 93 games in AAA-ball for the D-Backs in which he was 92 of 332 (.277 avg, .750 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 7 homers, 47 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Schmidt has now played in 8 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 1 for 15 (.067 avg, .243 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. Schmidt played in 2 games (1 start) behind the plate and he had 1 passed ball. Diamondbacks’ pitchers had a 4.85 ERA with Schmidt behind the plate.

The Rangers have signed 28-year old righty reliever Kyle McClellan to a minor league deal. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he was 0-1 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 261 games (17 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 19-23 with 6 saves, a 3.69 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. McClellan will have a good shot of winning a job in the Rangers’ bullpen if he can prove that he is healthy this spring.

The Rangers have signed 36-year old switch-hitting DH/1B Lance Berkman to a 1-year deal worth $10 million bucks. He has an option for 2014 that will vest if he has 550 or more plate appearances in 2013 or he could be bought out for $1 million bucks. Berkman played in only 32 games for the Cardinals last year (due to knee problems) in which he was 21 of 81 (.259 avg, .826 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Berkman has played in 1,806 games in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 1,843 of 6,235 (.296 avg, .953 OPS) with 1,119 runs scored, 360 homers, 1,200 RBIs and 86 stolen bases. If Berkman can stay healthy in 2013, he’s going to rake for the Rangers. He has been an All-Star six times so far in his career. He has also scored 100 or more runs 5 times, has hit 30 or more homers 6 times and he has knocked in at least 100 runs six times in his major league career.

The Rangers have signed 35-year old righty reliever Jason Frasor to a 1-year deal. He pitched in 50 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays last year and he was 1-1 with a 4.12 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has now pitched in 525 games (0 starts) in his first nine years in the majors and he is 26-31 with 36 saves, a 3.77 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Frasor was a solid pickup for the Rangers as he will likely be the 7th inning man, pitching ahead of Joakim Soria and Joe Nathan in 2013.

The Texas Rangers have designated 27-year old righty swinging catcher Luis Martinez for assignment. Martinez played in 10 games for the Rangers last year and he was 2 for 18 (.111 avg, .269 OPS) with 1 run scored. He also played in 65 games in AAA-ball last year in which he was 58 of 215 (.270 avg, .736 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 2 homers and 22 RBIs. Martinez has now played in 32 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 14 for 77 (.182 avg, .536 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Rangers probably hope that Martinez clears waivers and accepts an outright assignment to AAA.

UPDATE: (1/5/2012) – The Rangers have lost Luis Martinez on waivers to the Orioles.